Advance Wars: Tropical Warfare
by OfficerRC
Summary: Post AW:DS, the southernmost bounds of the sea, Eon Land has been invaded by a mass of Black Hole forces, can a rag-tag battalion with their COs fight against the empire of Black Hole, even when outnumbered ten to one?
1. Operation 1: The 58th Battalion

Orange-colored tanks were blown to pieces as ominous, dark planes loomed above the gloomy skies. The ripped flag of the nation of Orange Star lies in tatters across the battlefield, its very soldiers running for their lives as black, automated tanks moved in and begun to sweep at them with swarms of machinegun bullets.

There was no way Orange Star could've won, if at all. The storm came unexpected, and all four nations were swiftly overtaken, their local authorities either dead or imprisoned by the storm that goes by the name of Black Hole.

This was Eon Land, the southernmost bounds of the oceans. Once a tropical paradise inhabited by millions of people, now reduced to an industrial wasteland as Black Hole pillaged its resources, and drains every last drop of its life. Turning Eon Land into barren deserts.

Place: South Vanguard Pass, deep in the mountains, Orange Star  
Time: 15:45

"I'm sorry, Rig, but we're still regrouping our forces in Cosmo and Macro land as well, we're aware that Black Hole has invaded Eon, and our main attack force from Omega Land will arrive as soon as possible…but it's still going to take about two months to repair our losses…"

"Don't fret about it, Nell…we're short on numbers here, but we can hold on long enough."

"Are you absolutely sure? I thought Green Earth and Blue Moon's areas there have already been taken over…"

"That…is true, and I can't contact with any of their Commanding Officers, Yellow Comet is still putting up a fierce resistance…and we're still picking fights with Black Hole…either way, two months, is it? Alright, I just need to know that much, don't send me any radio transmissions unless you absolutely must…we have the danger of being tracked."

"Alright, Rig…good luck."

The man sighed heavily as he hung the speaker back onto the old radio device. His thick hands stroking across his messy black hair that was trimmed to be just above the back of his head, while covering his forehead completely on the front, he wore an orange pilot's suit, although the suit appears to not fit his size, and has blood stains and rips all over it. He pushed up his glasses from his greasy nose as he slowly climbed out of an Orange Star tank.

In the midst of the temperate forests were small numbers of vehicles, reconnaissance jeeps scattered under the cover of leaves and branches, while light tanks and a few Md. Tanks and Neotanks were hidden inside large bushes, the small number of troops in the forest were either lying lazily on the branches, or keeping a watch from the bushes leading out to the barren fields and the destroyed roads.

"Status report?" The Commanding Officer named Rig said as he slowly passed by a soldier, patting the man in the bushes on the helmet, the latter was holding a pair of binoculars in his hands, watching carefully as enemy APCs and unmanned Jeeps ran by, behind the vehicles were a group of alien-like Black Hole soldiers, their dome-shaped head looking around cautiously for any movement behind them.

"Supplies going to the Tonbo river pass…" Rig whispered as he snatched the binoculars over, peering in the glass towards the treads of the APC.

"Sir, how can you tell?" The soldier narrowed his eyes at the far-away enemy troops.

"This is the safest pass from our region to Yellow Comet…and the Yellow Comet Kaiho Sensen is still fighting there. They're holding back pretty well." The CO adjusted the binoculars, letting it focus even closer in an opening of the APC. "Fuel…and missiles."

"Perhaps they're planning to bombard the Comets, sir? Also…what's Kaiho Sensen?" The puzzled soldier gave his prediction as he stuffed more leaves onto his head, with his hand shaking fiercely trying to throw a beetle latching onto his gloves off.

"Oh, right, you don't understand Comet…Liberation Front, that's what it is." Rig smirked as he sunk his head below the bushes once more, and reappeared in front of the camp, walking as he patted twigs off his uniform, "Alright, soldiers, we got a party going today, get in your vehicles!"

"Sir, what are we facing?"

A red haired girl grumbled as she plopped her head from an Artillery's seat, her hair flowed down to her legs, and her apparently oversized tank top hanged loosely from her shoulders, she rubbed her delicate face as her hand slowly reached and turned the keys, the motor of her artillery began to run as it slowly drove forward.

"A supply group, seems like Black Hole are now transporting resources to the frontlines using vehicles as opposed to pipes…making us attack pipes when the supplies don't even go through them." Rig walked past the girl as he jumped onto a jeep slowly driving past, sitting in the side seat as he loaded his bazooka. "Fern, stay in the forests and listen to my command, fire when I tell you too."

Rig pulled out a radio and asked, looking at the supply slowly passing the abandoned checkpoint station of Vanguard Pass, "G4, are we ready to fire?"

"We're ready to give them a load of our ammo, sir!" The voice came from the radio had the sound of wind blowing by. "Good lord, big wind today at Vanguard Pass!"

"Alright, you guys know the routine. I showed you all where the fuel tanks for these Black Hole vehicles. Fire in one minute and forty seconds at them." Rig immediately switched to several more channels, issuing more orders to groups stationed around the mountains. It was only mere seconds before the operation is to be carried out.

"Five…four…three…two…one! Alright, G4. Fire at will, give them a good blow!"

The group of Mech Troops, classified as group G4 immediately unloaded a fury of bazooka fire and machinegun fire from the cliffs, sweeping down at the helpless soldiers of Black Hole, Recon jeeps and tanks came rushing out of the forests, trampling black hole soldiers as the soldiers of Orange Star drove through, giving the Recon Jeeps of Black Hole a good beating.

"…Sir, why are we even needed?" Fern's voice of concern came from the radio, she can see the butchering going on at the checkpoint station from her point, which was deep in the forests.

"Oh. R8, seen those enemy tanks yet?" Rig's confident reply came as his jeep made a crashing sound, the drivers even have the leisure of doing stunts as they chased down the Black Hole soldiers, running for their lives in their bulky suit.

"We see them clear, they're on the roads!" The captain of group R8 shouted as he prepared his bazooka. "A total of two units of tanks identified!"

"Good, don't bother firing then, you guys can't handle them…Fern…erm…H6." Rig pushed his hair back from his forehead, wiping off the oil he hasn't been able to clean off in days. "Fire in twenty seconds at the point I showed you last night. Don't hold back."

"Since when did I have to hold back, commander?" Fern sang slowly as she gestured towards the other members of her unit. "I've always been adept at fighting in and from the forests…all units, fire at will!"

In mere seconds, artillery shells rained from the skies as the Black Hole tanks were bombarded by them, one by one the tanks exploded, the explosions tipping other tanks off balance, soon, only a few tanks were still operable.

"Group Y7, R8…go in and smash them up." Rig lazily ordered as he pointed at the forests once more, immediately, the group of vehicles drove towards the opening path of trees, as the last recon jeep drove in, the trees closed behind them, not revealing a single part of the group's hiding place.

Meanwhile, the two Mech groups went in and promptly fired their bazookas at the remaining tanks, reducing them to scrap metal, while a few infantry units slowly dragged the APCs and tied up Black Hole soldiers into Orange Star's last standing headquarters in Eon Land.

"Alright, you boys…" Rig shouted as he knocked on one of the Black Hole soldier's glass helmets, "Diversion tactic, very brilliant if you ask me, who thought of it?"

"Er, er…we got new officers! It's not just our emperor anymore, ah…" The soldier stammered as an Orange star soldier knocked him on the helmet with his rifle.

"Oh? What are they capable of? What weapons do you guys have in your arsenal?" Rig flooded the soldier with questions, though his eyes quickly peered towards one of the meters within the suit.

"What is that?" Rig asked as he knocked on the alien's glass helmet, pointing at the meter.

"My…my…my air…meter…" The soldier struggled as he gasped for air, his alien-like mouth trying to put out his final words. In mere seconds, his body soon became dried out.

"Remote control…we're being tracked, aren't we?" The CO kicked the corpse as the radio on the now dead suit suddenly came live.

"Clever man, you are…the only battalion in Orange Star that scored countless victories against us, Black Hole Empire…I believe they call you people…56th Independent battalion? They also call you…Rig, the hope of Orange Star?" The cackling voice laughed.

"I take it you are Black Hole's new officer…and now you know exactly where I am?" Rig folded his arms and looked out of the tent. Silently gesturing sign language at the soldiers. Immediately, the troops began to pack up and get into their tanks and jeeps, silently driving out into the edges of the woods.

"Oh. Yes, I can see you people…so very clearly, yes." The voice chuckled even more, "I know exactly your whereabouts are…we're tracking you down to the brand of toilet paper you use."

"Well, that's not too surprising." Rig laughed as he slowly moved out of the tent, "Let's take this to the battlefield, shall we?"

"Oh, yes, not that it should be to hard for you to break out. You broke most of the local battalion…and there are no other available battalions in a twenty-kilometer radius, I guess I'll have to work with what I have as well, don't you say?"

No reply came, and the man laughed even more, "Alright, soldiers. We want them taken down, got it?"

"At once, sir Aquila!"

Place: Field east of South Vanguard Pass, Orange Star  
Time: 23:30

Tanks slowly plowed through the crumbled buildings and destroyed roads as they slowly traveled down the pass, towards its exit. At the rear was Rig, still in his jeep, but now with a rifle in his hand as opposed to a bazooka. His eyes behind his night vision goggles quickly scoped through the forest behind him, the gunners of the jeeps had their guns pointed at the forests behind them, not willing to lose a moment, for any second can be their last.

Fern, who was now sitting at the gunner's seat of a tank, headed the front. Behind her were two artillery units, the artilleries slowly drove across the land, some of them driving backwards aiming at the rear of the group.

On the two sides of the mountains were squadrons of infantry and mech troops, marching in the caves and cliffs slowly while keeping a watch for enemy forces.

"The check point station was reduced to rubbles in our last run earlier today, sir…" The girl grumbled as her tank trembled violently, passing through the masses of rock and rubble. "We're going to take some time to pass through this place…not just some time, it'll take a good two hours before we can get across…and if we're attacked by the enemy…"

"Don't fret about it, Fern…we'll use the ruins to our advantage…what time of the day is it now?" Rig asked as he turned his head at the direction the group was heading towards and blindly fired a silent shot, a Black Hole soldier, dressed in all black fell off the road, dropping head-first into a puddle of mud.

"Night, sir…visibility is poor for us." The red-haired girl sighed as she adjusted her goggles, trying to gain a clear view in the darkness, she was glad the moon was out tonight, and the checkpoint station was painted completely white.

"If that supply team is what he describes as 'most' of the battalion…that means he probably doesn't have a thing left to actually see us…B7, get that rocket truck into those trees, H6, station the artillery behind the walls." The commander of the battalion swiftly ordered his troops as they readied slowly into place, the nightfall giving them perfect cover.

"G4, R8, Y7, see the enemies yet?" Rig said as he looked with his binoculars around the skies, "No aerial bombardment…good."

"We see them, sir, they got plenty of Md. Tanks...I say about three units, followed by…one reconnaissance jeep!"

"Retreat into the shadows. You lack the shells to penetrate any tanks above Md. Tanks…" Rig ordered as he looked at his hands. "Let them slowly close in on us…"

Black Hole's Md. Tanks slowly closed in from the still usable roads, the sound their treads make were close to the level of silent, had it not been the summer sound of cicadas echoing, Orange Star may not have seen them coming.

"Sir? What are your orders?" Fern looked slightly pale at the sheer amount of Md. Tanks moving in on them, although the automatic killer machines have not seen them, the amount of Neotanks and their own Md. Tanks will never stand a chance in a frontal assault.

"Their weird thing of a Recon's getting close to seeing us…B7, give them a load."

With that, a volley of rockets immediately flew into the air, throwing the Recon unit out of the battle as they exploded, one after the other.

"Not bad. Black Hole's shells…" Rig leaned on his left hand as he snapped his fingers at the Artillery, giving his orders as the Md. Tanks rapidly moved in, "H6, fire at those two units."

Immediately, the artilleries unleashed another shower of shells, bombing two of the Md. Tank units into submission. While Rig snapped his fingers at his own Md. Tank units, shouting, "Alright, J6, move in, finish those Tanks off, Neotank unit J7, go in and give that remaining, strong unit a good beating."

Tanks rolled in and fired their ammo at their enemies, the shells penetrating and exploding creating a fireworks show within the valley pass.

"Oh, and Fern…aim two meters to your left, and fire." Rig said in a sing-song voice as he picked off an escaping soldier of Black Hole, firing the bullet straight into the alien's head.

Without second thought, the girl unloaded a clip of bullets to her left, true to the commander's words, several Black Hole soldiers carrying bazookas fell to the ground cold.

"How did you…" Fern look in disbelief at her commander as he whistled leisurely, looking at their enemies being blasted off the planet.

"Common sense, Fern." Rig tilted his head backwards and looked at her, tapping the side of his head.

"Sir! No more units are coming this way, all enemies in this region has been defeated." A soldier ran by as they dragged whatever parts they can salvage, patching up their own tanks.

"Alright, troops, back to regular shift, I will debrief on the plan tomorrow, be ready on the move. Head off to sleep those who need it." Rig sighed as he leaned his head back, onto the seat of the now-empty jeep.

"…What do you want?"

"What are we going to do?" Fern's voice came from the driver's seat, her voice seemed softer than it was during the battles, her eyes gazing towards the moon.

"We have to keep moving…this place is too dangerous to stay, we must move into the Comets to assist the Kaiho Sensen…there is two more resistance groups here in Orange Star that are close, we will rendezvous with them as well." Rig looked at the girl, narrowing his eyes. "I know it's hard for you, just became a CO for two years or so. Then you get dragged into this war that only I should be fighting…"

"Don't say that, commander. I've made up my mind I'm following you till death the day you found me in the mountain passes." Fern smiled meekly as she stroked through her hair.

"I'll listen to that…" Rig yawned as his head drifted towards his seat, falling asleep.

"Good night, commander." Fern smiled as she jumped off the jeep and onto a tree, leaning on a trunk. "This is where we're supposed to sleep…"

* * *

-Name: Rig  
-Army: Orange Star 58th Independent Battalion  
-Profile quote: "Don't fret."  
-Age: 21  
-DOB: June 27th  
-Hit: Tactics  
-Miss: Stress  
-Biography: Leader of Orange Star 58th Independent Battalion. Rig is always the one to make careful calculations and near flawless plans, although also adept in handling firearms and weapons, he has yet to be able to get into any serious relationship with women, and is still very much single, preferring work to anything else.  
-Quotes:  
"Chill out."  
"Aim for the tank."  
"One with power must use it wisely."  
-Skill: Units consume half as much fuel day to day while moving, while enemy loses one fuel on all units each day.  
-CO Power Meter: xxxxXXXX  
-CO Power: Seeping Hole-Enemy fuel is decreased by one-fourth of its amount, while their fuel consumption every step moved is doubled.  
-Super CO Power: Seeping Wreckage-Enemy will consume three times as much fuel every step moved, while every hit Rig's unit lands on the enemy will drain 7 fuel per hit.


	2. Operation 2: Checkpoint, Panties, Beams

Place: Rascal's Hill, Orange Star  
Time: 09:50

Tanks turned into wreckage as Black Hole's machines whirled through them, the sheer number of Neotanks easily overcame the group of orange colored tanks, the drivers and gunners screaming as they ran for their lives, only for bullets to pierce their bodies as they fall onto the ground as cold corpses.

"Sir, we're sustaining heavy fire, what do we do!?"

"Fall back, fall back! We must find a moment to break through!"

Meanwhile, atop of the battlefield was one of Black Hole's bombers, two shadowy Commanding Officers conversed with each other, rather, one gave the orders, while the other stayed silent.

"Do you think you're charged up enough?"

"…Yes."

"Alright, guess they'll have to go…not that they are a concern to us anyways."

The thin man stepped out from the shadows into the dim lights the computer screens illuminated, his sharp nose sniggered as his long, wing-like hands extended and his claw-like fingers snapped. Behind him, a girl murmured something under her breath.

Back on the battlefield, the black units slowly fell back, until they were out of Orange Star soldier's range.

"Sir, they're retreating!"

"Why are they retreated…regardless, let's move out!"

Suddenly, cackling voices came from the radio, screams then explosions were heard.

"Sir, we're hit! We're hit by a be-arrrggghhhh!"

"Commander! We're being struck by these-"

The signal became static, nothing more came through, only the cackling sound of annoyance and defeat.

"What…what is this…" The commander of the group widened his eyes as death greeted him, a white beam swept across the base, destroying everything in its path.

Place: Jackal Woods, Orange Star  
Time: 13:40

Heavy rain poured on the Orange Star soldier's heads as the group of infantry men marched through the muddy floor, at the front were two sole remaining light tanks, both of them sustaining a certain degree of damage, one doesn't even have its machinegun anymore, while the other has two of its left wheels missing, the treads lumping as it moved across the giant roots of the tropical trees.

"Sir, how much further do we have to go? We won't last another attack like this…"

"We don't have a choice but to head to the rendezvous point between us and the 58th

Independent Battalion and 23rd Tank Division, soldier…have you been to the North Crossroad Falls before?"

A man sighed as he held up his umbrella, his clothes drenched in water, he wore an infantry's uniform, but sported a smaller cap instead of the usual army helmet, as well as a dark red scarf that went down to his thighs, his undercut hairstyle kept the water from pouring down to his clothes and face, as his black pupils narrowed and struggled to see the misty rainforest in front of him.

"I've served there before, commander Chase, it's a beautiful place, but why there?" The soldier asked as he swept off some mosquitoes from his arms, raising his machinegun.

"Before communication was lost, the 23rd Tank Division was hiding in Rascal's Hill, while 58th Independent Battalion was hiding around South Vanguard Pass…before we were attacked, we based ourselves north of here." The CO identified as Chase sighed as he turned back to look at what remained of his group of soldiers. Dispirited, tired, and exhausted, they were in no shape to battle unless the enemy has fewer units than they do.

"Sir, we got trouble…there's Black Hole infantry closing in on us."

"Just infantry?"

"Just infantry, we have yet to see any aerial or vehicles, and…they got less people than we do!"

Immediately, some soldiers lifted their heads, letting the water pour down the back of their uniform, murmurs and mumbles of excitement rang in Chase's ears.

"Good…guys, if we want to see our homes again, let's do this…and survive, party time, people!"

Each soldier readied their guns as they closed into a circular position surrounding their remaining tanks, Chase holding a handgun in his hand as he carefully looked into the trees, "Forest combat was never my thing…should've stayed in Macro Land when I could, oh well."

The moment he finished his words a rocket came shooting past his face, missing him by a few centimeters, the energetic CO's eyes widened as he felt the shockwave of the explosion behind him, no one was hit, but a large cluster of trees were destroyed.

"Alright, guess they opened fire on us, that gives us enough reason to fight back!" Chase quickly ordered everyone as each soldier found their own hiding spot, ducking and occasionally firing at the platoon of Black Hole infantry coming from behind. "There's no need for much tactics here, just keep firing at them till they fall back, don't give chase!"

"How did they even find us?" A soldier screamed as he unloaded several bullets into his enemy.

"I guess they've been tailing us secretly since the water started pouring." Chase shouted in the gunfire and rain as he gave a Black Hole soldier an uppercut, the unfortunate soldier rolled onto the ground in his unsuccessful ambush attempt from the trees. "Well, they won't be able to send anything back either…whatever we don't finish will get eaten up by the things in this forest."

Chase loaded another clip and opened fire on the now diminishing group of enemy soldiers, the aliens running for their lives as they dropped their weapons.

"Sir, we're closing in on Crossroad Falls, and…the rain is stopping." A soldier came running back as he jumped through the muddy ground of the rainforest, the rain slowly became small drops of water as the rainforest mist of Jackal Woods cleared off. The valley that held the checkpoint between Yellow Comet and Orange Star was plain in sight. "…Sir? Did I miss a fight?"

"You could say that, though I doubt you missed much action anyways." Chase laughed as he pointed towards the falls, "Descend down to the falls, since those Black Holes wasted a hefty load of our time, I want us to be at the lowest point in fifteen minute pronto, got it?"

"Yes sir!" The soldiers shouted in unison as they slowly marched down the mountains towards the valley.

"Now they're having a bit more spirit, guess a battle and sunny day is all they need…" Chase smiled as he drenched out his clothes and scarf, looking at the sun.

Place: North Crossroad Falls, between Yellow Comet and Orange Star  
Time: 14:10

"Any news from the 23rd Tank Division?" Chase asked as he slowly walked down the riverside with Rig, behind them were both of their full battalions now finally having a long-deserved shower and break.

"I haven't seen them, or heard from them for a long time…almost too long. But they can't be wiped out that easily, the hills they're situated in are a natural obstacle to get through, and they have the largest force of Tanks that are still around right now in Orange star." Rig replied solemnly, "The only person that can probably rip them a new one is Sturm."

"Yes, Sturm, how can I ever forget, we can see that meteor coming all the way from Capital City here in Eon Land." Chase rolled his eyes as his mind went back to the second Black Hole invasion of Macro Land, every few days during that heated battle meteors came raining down on the small island Black Hole was based on. Leaving large dents and craters. "When did Nell say the Orange Star army will arrive?"

"Two months, she said, at least, when I contacted the Comets they say Cosmo Land's Imperial Comet Army will arrive in a month and a half as well, I have no news from Green Earth or Blue Moon yet." Rig scratched his shoulder as he adjusted his army emblem on his uniform in place, "Hold on, I'm going to take a dump…"

The man hopped off into the bushes, looking for a suitable location to take his break, pushing through bushes, he slowly walked around until he arrived under one of the smaller falls, "Alright, there shouldn't be anyone here…huh?"

Under the water was Fern, the red haired CO was undressed and slowly stroking through her hair, getting rid of the dirt that gathered up in it.

"Aw, crap." Rig quickly pulled his pants up and turned back slowly, only to step on a particularly loud branch and bump into a trunk. The girl behind him heard the voice and turned her back.

"…Commander?" Fern blinked several seconds, but then turned as red as her hair and covered herself with whatever uniform she was able to grab, throwing her other clothes at her commander as the latter retreated.

"Oh, panties, blue…wait, what the hell am I saying!" Rig muttered to himself as he jumped across the forest throwing the clothes back at his subordinate.

After two hours or so, the troops slowly gathered at the now empty checkpoint station between Yellow Comet and Orange Star, the two battalions looking at their commanders, who are now standing in front of the doors to the office of the station.

"Alright, as you all may be very well aware Orange Star's been taken over by those Black Hole peeps, and now we're going to meet up with Yellow Comet and formulate a plan to counter the invasion till the reinforcements from all four nations in Omega Land can get here, before that, though, we'll need to meet up with the 23rd Tank Division first." Rig shouted from his loudspeaker as he pointed at Yellow Comet. "Across this point is the Tonbo River pass, where the Liberation Front are busy fighting the Black Hole. Our aim is to smash them from the rear, then let the Comets use the panic to tear through them, got it?"

"Yes sir!" The soldiers shouted in unison.

"But, my dear brilliant tactician…what if we already saw through your plans?"

The officers of Orange Star threw their heads back at the interior of the office, the screens that were supposed to show the statistics of each location soon became live as Aquila's thin face was displayed on the screen.

"I got reinforcements this time around, and I'm afraid that diminishing force of yours won't survive this time…" Aquila stroked a stripe of his hair back as he peered at the Orange Star COs, "Besides, this time I can test a new wea…ah, no, that doesn't sound to nice, now, does it? A new CO that will fight your band of rag-tag soldiers, sounds good?"

"We'll beat you, chump…what's your name? I'll remember it." Rig gritted his teeth as he waved behind him, troops started to jump into their tanks and pulling out their weapons.

"Aquila, at your service, Rig…" Aquila gave a smug smile before the screen went completely dark.

"Alright, alright! Scout teams, we have the enemies in sight yet?" Chase shouted into his radio. Hopping onto a tank in between Rig's Md. Tank and Fern's Artillery.

"Oh. We see them…and they got a load of tanks today, both sides too! We're surrounded!" The soldier shouted back into his radio. Hiding inside a cave as Black Hole Neotanks rolled by.

"Anything else? I'm sure they won't just send tanks, that's rocket bait." Chase asked again, looking at the far west, the first of Black Hole's Neotanks are already visibly in sight.

"Oh, yeah, we got infantry trying to take us here on top of the falls…oh, sir, watch out, looks like we got some jeeps heading for our soldiers in the woods." The soldier shoved his binoculars back into his backpack as he took out a machinegun.

"47th Specialist Corps have been deployed, now we will be under your command, commander Rig." Chase wiped a sweat off his cheek with his scarf as his tank started.

Meanwhile, atop the Black Hole bomber, Aquila tapped a soldier's helmet, his smile still on his face, but his eyes twitching. "Where did you deploy our jeeps to come in from?"

"Well, sir…the woods? That's where the backbone of those infantry we were trying to ambush earlier today came from…"

"Alright, alright, lesson number one, soldier…jeeps have horrible mobility in woods, I thought I taught you all basic battle simulation." The eagle-like CO sighed as he looked at the grid-like map that had his and enemy units deployed on them, their locations marked down to every last infantry man. "Looks like we're going to just have to let those Stars have a good blast at our jeeps…damn."

"Commander, we found emergency missile silos atop the falls." The radio crackled as the soldiers spoke, "Permission to launch?"

"I'll give the coordinates later, many thanks, soldiers." Rig replied as he switched to another channel, "All artillery and rocket groups in their position, listen to my order to fire, tanks, please wait on the side of the roads, P2, are the decoys in position?"

"In position, sir!"

"Good, G4, are explosives all ready?"

"Prepared to blast them to Omega Land and back, sir, detonation time is set as your ordered, ten minutes and twenty seconds."

"Very good, P2, please assume the flank formation on both sides of the road. Z3, drive your Neotanks close to the front and be prepared to fire once explosions are set off. Do you all read?"

"We read you loud and clear sir."

"Very good, Fern, are all our Rocket and Artillery units ready?"

"All ready, sir. Awaiting your orders." Fern grumbled as she zipped her uniform up.

Gunfire soon raged across both sides as Black Hole tanks fired in all directions, aiming to not leave a single man alive, the soldiers fired their bullets trying to deal the killing blow atop the falls, only to be sniped to the ground by Orange Star's snipers.

"First Neotank unit is going to pass the explosives in twenty seconds, sir." The soldier fired as he rallied his team to fall back.

"Alright, are the missiles ready?" Rig shouted into his radio at the infantry units now operating the missile bases, while engaging in a mountain-to-river battle against Black Hole infantry.

"Ready to fire!"

"On the mark, soldiers…three…two…one…detonate and launch!"

Immediately, the destroyed roads the Black Hole tanks were traversing in the west exploded, sending the ball-shaped Neotanks and tanks flying in the air, landing hard onto the ground as scrap metal. Missiles flew across the skies as it lays waste to the group of tanks in the east.

On the plane, Aquila looked with disbelief as units were picked off the roads easily by the incoming tanks, both sides outflanking his own tanks. One by one, his units diminished.

"Sir, we're taking a serious beating…" The soldier sweated as he watched the jeeps he was responsible of mobilizing turned to scrap heap by the 47th Specialist Corp's bazooka fire.

"I know, and it's a problem with my tactical planning." Aquila stroked through his hair again as he pulled a seat and sat on it. Looking thoughtfully at the falls. "Next time, proceed with caution, also. We have the need for more Rockets, and perhaps aerial bombing."

"I'm sorry, sir, but this was all we could spare from the Comets on your time limit." The soldier squeaked as he poked a unit on the map, poking again as the unit hologram phased in and out.

"Don't bother saying sorry. That was my tactical mistake to start with…" The CO started to flick at his own nose with his scarily long fingers, covered in white gloves. "Is the satellite fully charged?"

"No, sir, it's only at fifty-five percent. It is a prototype after all…"

"Alright…give them a demonstration, just strike those mountains, are you ready?"

The same girl as before slowly drifted out from the shadows murmuring unclear words, her eyes completely focused on the battle map, the second she was finished she turned her face to Aquila, "Additional orders?"

"None, you can go off." Aquila waved his hand and turned back to face the bridge of the bomber. The girl simply drifted off into the dark corridors of the bomber once more, Aquila peered back as she left the room in a ghost-like fashion and mumbled, "Lab rats…the emperor has no ethics, does he?"

"All units clear for now, sir…however, the Black Hole soldiers in Tonbo River are probably now aware of our attempt to get them from behind…" A soldier looked worriedly at the seemingly clear path that led to Yellow Comet.

"That's a gamble we'll have to take, soldier." Rig smirked as he pointed at the Yellow Comet's regions, "Let's get to the Comets then, every on full spe-"

Before Rig could finish his words, a giant white beam struck down from the skies, blasting through the skies and struck a mountain, rocks seemed to fly upwards as the mountain slowly disintegrated into fine dust, within seconds, the mountain was reduced to a pile of rocks, the trees now charred and burning, and the animals either dead, or have half of their bodies split open while running from the beam.

"Holy hell, holy hell, holy hell…what in Orange Star's name is that?" Chase gawked at what once used to be a mountain.

"Black Hole's newest bloody weapon…and this time, it's not from the skies." Fern's faced was flushed of its color as her legs shook.

"From outer space, damn…and next time they probably won't be this nice." Rig grumbled angrily, "First times are always demonstrations…then they start blasting people the second time. I guess now we know where the 23rd Tank Division vanished off too."

"…Gone, just like that?" Fern looked at the mountain remains with disbelief as her tank slowly moved out with the rest.

"I know, it could also be something…other than a weapon." Chase looked distastefully at the animals and trees as they rolled pass the roads.

"Every one of us were born with special abilities…those who use it in war to benefit the soldiers they command…" Rig put a hand on his hand thoughtfully. "Are us, the Commanding Officers."

"You mean to tell me that was a CO Power attacking?" Chase patted and dusted off his scarf as he wiped a sweat off his forehead slowly, his eyes shifting around, fearing anymore beams coming down right above them, "Because if that was, then that's a real cheap power."

"You tell me about it, Chase…" Fern's disgruntled voice came from behind as her tank overtook Chase's. "I'll be honest, I'm more freaked out now than when one of our commanders have been peeking on me."

"I swear, that was an accident, I had no intention of doing so—" Rig started, though his face started to go a bit reddish on his brown skin.

"What color were her panties?" Chase immediately interrupted and followed up with a pop question, a smirk on his face.

"Blue! Wait, no!" The commander lowered his head into the tank as the soldiers, all the way to the rear guard roared with laughter, even Fern who initially had a grumpy expression smiled a little at her commander.

* * *

-Name: Chase  
-Army: Orange Star 47th Specialist Corps  
-Profile quote: "Let's run!"  
-Age: 18  
-DOB: August 2nd  
-Hit: Running Goose  
-Miss: Sitting Duck  
-Biography: Commander of 47th Specialist Corps, Chase's job was to either chase down and destroy the enemy, or chase them down and capture them, either way it never mattered for him, being the upbeat boy he was, he didn't have a single part of his brain devoted to tactics, and rushed head first into many situations, yet coming out unharmed as the enemy army was reduced to scrap metal.  
-Quotes:  
"All troops, continue the chase!"  
"Location confirmed, permission granted to pursue and attack!"  
"History will run its course, we will run towards Victory."  
-Skill: When attacking an enemy, normal damage will be dealt, however, if on the next day the exact same unit attacks the exact same enemy again. 15 percent extra damage may be dealt, however, movement cost is increased by two for all vehicles on urban terrain.  
-CO Power Meter: xxxXXX  
-CO Power: Stalk Track-Increases chasing bonus from 15 percent to 30 percent.  
-Super CO Power: Heated Pursue-Increase chasing bonus from 20 percent to 50 percent.


	3. Operation 3: Aerial Break

Place: West of Tonbo River, Yellow Comet  
Time: 13:30

In the mattress-filled war room, commanders of the army sat in two neat lines around the long battle map that represents the entirety of Tonbo River, in the middle, sitting in front of the giant flag of Yellow Comet, was an old man, his moustache neatly going down under his nose to the sides of his mouth, while his half-bald head was slightly covered by whatever little amount of hair he has remaining on the top of his head, he wore an Yellow Comet army's uniform, made exceptionally big due to his large frame and giant arms, in his hand was a katana, the old man holding it vertically with his hands on the handle.

"General, they could haven broken in from this, this, and this region." One of the commanders pointed individually at three different regions on the map, "I have secured these locations with rocket and missile fire, their aerial units dare not close in, and we have the backing of resistance groups around the region."

"That is true, now all we have to do is to wait for Orange Star to arrive!" Another commander spoke loudly and leisurely.

"Do you think we can rely on the rag-tag team still?" One commander that stood close to the door questioned the other commanders, "Aerial scouts have found the wrecked ruins of their tanks, I believe it's a new weapon of Black Hole."

"What is there to fear? They are currently heading this way, even though small in number. They will bring us victory over this pass."

"Are you sure? Why are you so sure?"

The argument began to turn into a full-scale debate as the commanders exchanged their views and insults, some sneakily bringing their personal quarrels into the question.

"They will help us. In times like this we must cooperate."

The group of commanders stopped cold as each word was printed out in their minds, the bellowing, stone-like voice slowly echoed across the room.

"…I have faith in General Genbu's judgment, then!" The commander that started the argument raised his hand.

"Seconded, do we all agree then?" Another commander rubbed his head as they slowly took their seats once more.

"Silence, and carefully analyze the combat situation. I will now make contact with the princess." General Genbu said boldly as he stood up, slowly walking out of the war room towards his office.

Walking into his office, the general gently put down his katana on the side of the mattress and quietly pressed the coordinates of Omega Land's Yellow Comet capital city, he then proceeded to sit on the mattress, his legs crossed, and his eyes closed.

"Hello, this is Yellow Comet Omega Land Kyoto Headquarters speaking, is this a transmission from Eon Land, Tonbo River Headquarters?" The voice of one of the soldiers came from the com-link, as the screen in front of him showed the 'Voice Only' image.

"…This is general Iiji Genbu speaking from Eon Land, Tonbo River Headquarters, I request audience from her majesty, princess Asuka Kikuchiyo of Yellow Comet immediately."

"Good day, general Genbu, we will link you to the princess immediately…"

Soon, Sonja's face popped up on the screen as she lowered her head, "Good day, General Genbu-san, are you still fighting over there?"

"When will the main army arrive at Eon Land?" The old man made no jokes and cut straight to the question. Narrowing his eyes at the little girl.

"I don't know, father says he just fended off some trouble in Macro Land as well…" Sonja's face turned more serious as she shook her head, pulling off her glasses, "I wish I could give an exact date, but even with our navy that are in Cosmo Land, combined with Green Earth's navy are having trouble breaking into the tight defensive naval line Black Hole has set up around Eon Land, parachuting troops off is out of the question to, Yamamoto-san has already simulated the battle…and it turns out our copters would get shot down long before it even reaches the shores of Yellow Comet."

"I see, very well, do not attempt to send in reinforcements then, hime-sama, not until all four nations have assembled their forces in Cosmo Land, please pass this on to the other countries as well." The general stood up and bowed, his face still remaining the same expression as ever.

"Alright, please try to fight till we can come. We will not let you down, Genbu-san…" Sonja's worried voice trailed off as Genbu shut off the transmission. A weak, small smile in his face emerged, then faded as he went out of his own office to face his subordinates once more.

Place: Kyoto, Yellow Comet, Omega Land  
Time: 13:40

Sonja sighed as she stood up and stretched her arms, extending them into the air, she then put on her boots and headed out of her office, into the Imperial palace, looking for the other two commanding officers that were here. One was easy, almost too easy to spot, the fat, bald 'Lightning' Kouzou hummed loudly as he watered the plants with his hose.

"Kouzou-san! Have you seen Yamamoto-san?" Sonja called out to the fat man who turned around, unaware he also targeted his hose at Sonja.

"He's at the balcony, hime-sama, though it'll do you more good if you wait for him to wake up!" The obnoxious man roared as he turned back and continued to water the plants, completely unaware that his princess is now covered in water, complete with wet hair.

The brainy girl wondered off grumbling, searching for his father's mentor, while trying to find a quick change of clothes.

Place: eastern outskirts of Tonbo Woods, east of Tonbo River.  
Time: 14:30

"Where are we?" Chase asked as their tank slowly drove into the shady green trees of Yellow Comet's region in Eon Land.

"Tonbo Woods, there's plenty of dragonflies around here, and of course, when we cross this wood, the river…doubt they'll want to come out though, it's war season." Rig laughed as he swatted at a few flies, "We will be arriving at our key location soon. We will formulate an attack from there. This forest may not be big, but it is as long as the rivers stretch."

"Location? What do you-" Fern asked just as Rig cut her off and pointed in front of the battalion, in front of them were a cluster of automated factories, as well as an airport, complete with an abandoned HQ.

"Yellow Comet Crossroad Falls Frontline Base, now abandoned when Black Hole invaded since the division stationed here was not enough to hold back the invasion, thought I wonder, why did Black Hole keep this base in one piece…usually they'd raze it to the ground." Rig hopped off his tank and pushed open the factory doors. "Ah, good, there are definitely enough tanks here to replace our worn-out ones, and enough fuel and ammo to keep us moving."

"Commander, we just took a look from the Airport's Control Towers, and it seems like Black Hole's troops are coming in from the north and south…they're trying to flank the Comets!" A soldier's panicked voice came in from Rig's radio.

"Have they noticed us yet?" Rig called back, ordering his tanks to quickly hide inside the factories.

"No, not yet, they seem to be focused on breaking through the river…oh, good lord, they just landed temporary bridges!" The soldier shouted, "Commander, I think it's best if we hurry up!"

"And that's exactly what we're going to do, move out, people, I have a way of getting through this, are the aerial transports intact in the hangars?" Rig shouted at the far end of the air field towards the group of soldiers that was inspecting a few bombers and fighters.

"They're definitely intact, sir, what do you need them for?" A soldier shouted back at Rig as he slid down from a bomber's surface, landing on the hot cement ground.

"You guys are from the 43rd Airborne Company, is it?" Rig looked at the planes, then turned to the group of soldiers he managed to save from an attacking group of Black Hole Fighters. Though all the fighters used by the company was lost afterwards.

"Yes, sir, that'd be us." The pilots looked at the Comet-made fighter planes and bombers.

"Very good, get on the planes, I know exactly what to do." Rig ordered as he took out the map of the river, "I picked this up in the HQ. You are to head about forty kilometers north of the river, avoiding the Black Hole anti-air defenses. I'm sure they would have employed a group of fighter planes themselves. Fighter pilots, you are to engage and take them down while escorting the bombers to destroy the dam, letting the reservoir water flood the Black Hole troops on my order."

"We got it, sir…" A fighter pilot sneered as he started his plane. "It feels good to fly in the air again, alright, buddies, let's give those Black Holes a swimming lesson!"

"Alright. We got exactly fifteen minutes and forty-six seconds to find the frequency those Comets are using, move!" Rig hollered at his soldiers on the control tower as he ran into the tower itself.

In a minute, the link was quickly established as Genbu's face appeared on the screen, his expression is still bold as sounds of rockets and bombs could be heard in the background, his eyes were closed as he awaited the younger CO to start.

"Good day, Genbu-san…" Rig bowed deeply as he saluted right after. "Are the enemy breaking through the Kaiho Sensen's defenses?"

"…They are, we will hold out as long as we can." The older CO replied.

"Call off your troops in about a minute or so, sir. I have a tactic planned." Rig said as he displayed the old blue map of the river, with the dam's location marked clearly with a red marker.

"…You plan to flood the Black Hole…very well. I will call off my troops. Are they aware of your presence?" Genbu let out a small smile on his face as he opened his eyes to look at Rig.

"They have no detected us yet. But they will very soon." Rig turned around and issued more orders, before turning back to face the general, "The fighters are in place, they are now engaging Black Hole's defenses."

Place: Forty Kilometers north of Tonbo River Pass, Tonbo Dams, Yellow Comet  
Time: 14:55

"Alright, guys, let's show them what we can do!" The leading pilot shouted as the ten fighters spread across the skies forming a circular formation, while five fighters continued to fly with the sole bomber.

"Calibrating air speed." A pilot mumbled as he dashed pass a Black Hole fighter, launching his missiles at the other Black Hole fighters. The latter continued to miss as they were unable to keep up with the Comet-made fighter planes.

"Left wing engine's damaged, sir, I'll be bailing out soon." A pilot shouted, the left wing of his plane was slowly burning as piece of metal peeled off, the missiles flew out and struck a plane in its dome-like cockpit. The plane exploding while crashing into another.

"Good job Alex, you got two, now bail out, you're losing altitude!" The leader pilot gave a thumbs up at the pilot who was slowly parachuting downwards on his seat. The plane-less pilot gave the same sign back.

"Sir, we got missile units coming this way, do we let the bombers engage?" The pilot asked into his radio at their commander.

"Ignore the missiles, look down." Rig's voice from the radio, the pilot looked down to find the missiles would be out of range, even when the group reaches the dam. He then turned his face up and continued to fire at the Black Hole fighters.

"Sir, bomber is in place, destroy the dam completely?"

"Destroy it, I want nothing left of it."

Bombs dropped one by one, spiraling downwards making a screaming voice as if it was screaming like a group of banshees at the enemies that are about to be flooded. The dam deteriorated in shape as it crumbled, water came gushing out at first, then overflowed the forests around it as the water burst towards the downstream parts of Tonbo River.

"Sit tight, soldiers, we're going to have to get high enough to avoid this!" The pilot yelled as Yellow Comet soldiers jumped onto the transport copter. The copter lifted upwards, as a few soldiers pulled on its rails as the group dragged them up on the already overcrowded copter.

"Abandon the tanks and trucks we cannot move out in time, rockets and missiles should be at high enough ground to avoid the water. Are all soldiers out yet?" Genbu roared as he walked across the HQ office, his watchful pair of eyes piercing each and every commander and soldier's mind.

"Yes sir, all soldiers have been moved out, and ninety-five percent of our vehicles are already out of the way!" An officer replied as he turned off two com-links.

Place: The Southern Cross, high above the skies of Eon Land  
Time: 15:00

Beyond the sight of the radars, high about the skies a bomber flew across the river. On board were groups of alien soldiers working busily at the bridge, in the center sat a man who lazily picked his nose and inquired, "Are those people from the Comets falling back?"

"Seems so, commander, and seems like…oh, god, oh, god, this isn't good!" The replying soldier looked in disbelief as he quickly tapped a few buttons. "Permission for our force to fall back, now, commander!"

"Hm? Why is th-" The officer sitting in the shadows didn't have time to answer his underling before the bird's eye view image was shown in front of his eyes, the river flooded as large areas around it became covered in nothing but water, the heavy tanks and vehicles were washed away as they flipped over and malfunctioned, the planes that were in the airports were all flooded as well, not having the time to fly out before the water flowed through their circuits, reducing them to piece of metal waiting to be crushed.

"…What the hell was the dam group doing, I thought the Comets didn't have a single bomber or fighter left!" The CO shouted angrily as he pummeled his chair handle. The 'Signal Lost' sound continuously played for several minutes, as Black Hole's forces were lost in what now seemed like a sea instead of a river.

"Sir, here's the image our missile group managed to take before the bombs hit them…" The soldier, frightened at his commander's voice showed several images. Although the image showed old, worn-out Yellow Comet fighters, it showed clear pictures of pilots with the Orange Star Air Force insignia on their shoulders.

"Damn those Stars…I thought Aquila and subject MS-405 are supposed to have taken care of them!"

"Ah, Crux…do you really think I can take care of the battalion with those rag-tag forces the emperor could spare me?" A voice came from the screen as Aquila's face came on the com-link as well.

"I thought you have finished them all off!" The CO named Crux shouted as he stood in the shadows, his face still unclear. "The prototype I made should be more than enough to wipe their battalion out! Are you questioning my invention?"

"Yes, but sadly, our forces weren't, and they were through with us by the time the satellite was at…what, fifty-five percent? Next time, increase the speed and efficiency the energy charges at, either way, I can't recall…and her name isn't MS-405." The CO on the screen sneered. "Either way, you couldn't have beaten this Orange Star kid…he's very talented and skilled in tactics and wars…and how Eon Land is structured only makes him even better."

"I'll get them, I swear!" Crux shouted crazily as he sat back down, "I'll contact you later, the emperor will soon send his next orders now that both of us has failed, be thankful he's a very forgiving person unlike Sturm and Bolt!"

"Yes, yes, I got you. Crux…I got you." Aquila laughed as he cut off the link between the two Black Hole COs, leaving Crux in his own anger.

* * *

-Name: Aquila  
-Army: Black Hole Empire  
-Profile quote: "I can see you..."  
-Hit: Eagles  
-Miss: Hawks  
-Biography: Cold, calculative, and cunning, three words that Aquila thinks would always best describe himself, and it is the truth as well, his brilliant mind has been the source of many tactics and strategies, but they are often held back by the lack of a proper army he could command, as he has yet to prove himself in a major victory with such a small force Black Hole has provided him.  
-Quotes:  
"I don't want to waste time on this..."  
"Never enough to execute a plan, never enough."  
"Fine by me."  
-Skill: All his air units and infantry units have +1 vision range while receiving a +20 in defense, and is capable of ignoring forest and reefs and the defense stars they provide, however, he cannot see through urban terrain unless he is adjacent to it, and his attacks against cities will have a -10 attack reduction.  
-CO Power Meter: xxxXXX  
-CO Power: Search Scope-All air and infantry units now have +1 vision range, air units receive a +10 boost in firepower and +20 in defense.  
-Super CO Power: Satellite Scan-All air and infantry units now have +2 vision range, Air units receive a +20 boost in firepower and a +30 in defense.


	4. Operation 4: Foggy Memories, Part 1

Place: Yellow Comet Crossroad Falls Frontline Base  
Time: 15:10

The crowd of soldiers cheered as they saw the water engulfing the Black Hole tanks, this was one of the few significant victories they fought ever since the invasion started. Uproar of excitement and applauses were given to the pilots as each of them stepped down from their plane, and loud laughter from the whole battalion went to the pilot Alex as he jumped down a transport copter, his clothes completely wet when he was hanging loosely on a tree near the water as the flood went pass, by the time the soldiers found him he has a salmon stuffed in his mouth, the fish's tail still busily slapping the poor boy's face.

The three commanding officers smiled as they looked from the HQ balcony at the soldiers, Chase turned to his superior and asked, "How could you devise these tactics? It's as if you could predict exactly what will happen."

"Rig when I'm off duty, Chase…and it's all in here." Rig said as he tapped his brain, "Common sense is really all you need."

With that, Rig walked off humming towards the coffee machine while scratching his head, making his hair even messier than before.

"Common sense? I don't get it…" Chase rubbed his cheek and looked at Fern, "You ever get what your commander's been thinking?"

"Nope, if I did I wouldn't be listening to him all the time, would I?" The girl smiled as she took off as well, taking a small jog down the stairs of the HQ, "Better go join the party!"

"I don't get it, but whatever…" Chases sighed as he walked off downstairs, leaving his commander to the intelligent man's usual way of thinking as the coffee slowly came out from under the old, rusty Comet-made coffee machine.

Place: Tonbo River, Yellow Comet HQ  
Time: 17:10

The COs of Orange Star swiftly walked past the staring soldiers and officers in Yellow Comet's HQ, to the latter, the three officers were strangers, and in a way, miracle and hope, being the only surviving commanders of Orange Star's military forces.

The leading figure, Rig, pushed open the door carefully as he stepped in, facing him was the commander of Yellow Comet's Liberation Front, Iiji Genbu.

Rig silently bowed as he pushed Fern and Chase on their hips as well, forcing them to bow, while whispering into their ears, "This is my mentor and he's more experienced than all three of us combined, pay some respect!"

The giant man simply sat there, silence engulfed the room for several seconds before Genbu finally opened his eyes and words came out from his mouth, "Sit, son, sit, how long has it been?"

"Six…maybe seven years, sir." Rig made himself comfortable and sat down, crossing his legs, while his hands reached for the two CO's collars behind him and dragged them to sit down. "It's been long since I've seen Yamamoto-san as well."

"Ah, yes…he's still in Omega Land, perhaps sleeping at this hour…" Genbu smiled as he drank slowly from his tea cup. "That old man, you can certainly learn much from him…we are all his students, directly or indirectly, military or non-military… now, onto the tactics. It'll take the allied fleet two months before they can force a landing onto the north shores of Eon Land, which is now under Black Hole's control…Used to be Blue Moon land, rumors say that Blue Moon has a few survivors trying to disrupt the northern shores so captain Drake of Green Earth can move in."

"I've seen the navy line Black Hole put up this time, I doubt even a tidal wave can tip the tides." Rig sighed as he pulled out the map of Eon Land and placed in on the mattress. "I believe the best plan right now is to retake all of Yellow Comet, then take back Green Earth."

"Aren't you concerned about liberating your own country first?" Genbu asked as he stared at his disciple.

"I'd love to, but you should see how many troops Black Hole's stationed in the more urban regions. We had to walk the sewers and drive through the thickest forests and mountains to evade them, and even then they've tracked us down to the color of panties she wears." Rig smirked as he pointed at Fern.

"Don't you mean the brand of toilet paper we use?" The red haired girl asked as she pulled on her commander's right ear.

"Same difference!"

"I don't think so!"

Genbu smiled and turned his face to Chase, "You are…Chase Alexis, aren't you?"

"How do you know me, sir?" Chase replied as he evaded a punch from Fern, who barely missed Rig.

"Your father was of Orange Star descent, your mother was from the Comets…and I was your mother's teacher, back when she was still in the academy, of course I've seen you…"

"It was all Black Hole that caused the death of my parents." Chase sighed as he looked back at Genbu, Rig and Fern immediately stopped their fighting as their attention span turned to Chase as well.

"Ever since my father died fighting back in the first war against Black Hole's overwhelming forces…against the clone Sturm made of our very own Andy, my mom fell to pieces after that."

"Then she died a few months later…I'd expect her to have been stronger, but she and your dad were simply too perfect together…it was as if the two couldn't live without each other." Genbu said sadly as he looked at Chase, "Forget about the eyes look like mom part, though, you are definitely strong enough to fight back against Black Hole. If we one upped them in Cosmo, Macro, and Omega Land, this place shouldn't be a problem."

"Except the fact even with both our forces combined…if ours can even be called one at all, we're outnumbered ten to one." Rig said as he pointed at the river, "We can't defend this place anymore. Nor would Black Hole want to take it, it's best if we use the base hidden inside the Nakanari Mountains, it has enough defensive power and offensive power to retake the rest of Yellow Comet, it is also the backbone to retaking Fukuoka City from Black Hole. I believe they set up heavy defenses there."

"Yes, are we do have some trouble going into the Nakanari base right now, Black Hole has a large group of missiles and rockets at the hidden entrance close to this place, just south of our position right now, and they also built a Black Cannon there, we've lost our air force trying to deal with them." Genbu sighed as he pointed to the mountains. "We have a force stationed in there, and the narrow space means Black Hole couldn't make it through our defense systems with their weapons…but I'm sure they'd find a way soon if we don't hurry."

"Oh. I wouldn't worry too much about that…what's the terrain around the entrance?" Rig's eyes shifted from the map to his mentor.

"Mostly forests and trees, and if we get the airports around here…" Genbu started to point at two locations on the map, then another five locations, "These five factories, we can secure victory…mind you, there seems to be an unnatural amount of mist surrounding the area lately."

"Probably a CO Power working its way, I'll take care of it, permission to engage, sir."

"…Granted, Fern…just…watch out." Rig looked at his subordinate than waved his hand at her, the girl immediately grabbed her knife and walked off.

"Are you sure the girl can handle it?" Genbu looked at the girl with his watchful eyes as Fern exited the room.

"I can trust her with my battalion if I bit the dust, sir…" Rig smiled, "She does rush into things like a headless ant sometimes, c'mon, Chase, we'll be following from behind…oh, sir, I hope you don't mind, but we're taking all the tanks from the east base with us."

"Go ahead, we will prepare to move in soon as well, hopefully you'll have cleared the defenses by then."

"We will, give this place a few months, sir, and the water level will slowly fall…I'm sorry I had to do that." The CO sighed as he put a hand through his hair, pushing it back, revealing a small, diagonal scar on his forehead that was about three centimeters in length.

"You did what you must to turn the tides of battle, the land will recover, but battles must be won now if we want it to happen." Genbu gave a weak smile before he closed his eyes, going back into meditation as his student closed the doors, leaving the Yellow Comet general alone in the room.

Place: South Tonbo River, Meikiri Woods.  
Time: 20:40

"Alright, troops. Move in carefully, I know the fog's getting dense." Fern shouted as she looked around, the mist was thick enough to cloud her sight to the point she can barely see her own hands, let alone her own troops.

"Sir, are you alright? Your legs are shaking…it is getting cold." The driver rubbed his nose and kept driving through the trees, "We can't see a blasted thing, I can barely see the frontline."

"Oh, I'm fine, I just feel cold, that' all." Fern faked a smile to her two companions in the tank and kept looked up again.

Nothing left, only the lone Md. Tank left in the middle of the foggy forests, surrounded by high mountains also covered in mist.

"Sir…we've lost contact with the rear and front, and our group's signal is weak. Seems like we're being jammed big time." The gunmen kept flicking switches on and off on the radio, adjusting the frequencies, "No good, I can't contact the headquarters."

"When did we step into the forest?" Fern spoke calmly as she snatched a rifle and a bazooka from the back of the tank.

"About twenty minutes ago, sir."

"Twenty minutes and we're already lost. Can't be helped. I guess…especially in this situation." Fern loaded a signal flare and fired it into the skies, the pink color was barely visible through the fog, but nevertheless could achieve the effect.

"To all who is still in range, every man for himself, scatter and fire, don't let the enemy have a chance to react!" Fern shouted as her tank rushed forward towards the trees. The girl pulled her legs out from the hatch and jumped off the tank.

"Sir, what are you doing? Please come back here, commander will have our heads if you get into trouble!"

"Well, tell me anyone who's better than me in gaining higher ground." Fern turned her head back and grinned, then hopping between two tall trees, "Guess only I can do it!"

Although, the longer she continued to hop up the branches, clinging onto each one, the two trunks seemed to be never-ending, the mist continued to cloud her sight even as she reached the top. Carefully pushing open leaves, she took out her infra-vision goggles and observed the enemy formation.

"I doubt they can see our troops…they haven't even fired a shot yet." Fern mumbled as she took out her radio. "Perhaps it'll work here."

"It won't, you can count on me for that."

Fern's pupils narrowed like a cat as she threw her body backwards, looking at the deep female voice that was speaking to her, in her eyes was a girl slightly older than she was, wearing a large black trench coat with low skirts and long boots going up to her knees, her hair was cut short and only went down to her neck. While her sharp, thin eyes stared back at Fern, still smiling mysteriously, her back leaning on the trunk where she sat.

"Who are you?" Fern shouted as she took out her dagger, holding it tightly as she assumed a defensive position, her legs carefully balancing themselves on the large branch.

"The one responsible for this mist, darling, I suggest you put that dagger away…" The girl smiled as she slowly stood up in a blink of an eye, she was already behind Fern, the red-hair guerilla fighter's dagger in the girl's hands.

"How did you…" Fern shook as she turned back, trying to give the girl an uppercut.

"Dear, people of Black Hole are stronger than just…regular human." The girl smiled again as she held Fern's right arm in her left hand, slowly applying an unseen pressure. "I can break your body in two if I really wanted, without even touching you…but that'd be such a waste."

The girl's smile turned deeper as she disappeared again, reappearing behind Fern as the latter turned around, with Fern's arm still in the girl's hands.

"You know, I've always been wanting to find a good girl like you…" The girl's hands disappeared like mist as Fern gasped for breath, the hands reappearing and embracing the Orange Star CO, the girl's chin resting on top of her shoulder, "I guess you could come with me…don't these foggy days bring back your memories? I guess they're a bit traumatic…maybe replaying them should do you some good…oh, and my name…Cassie, welcome to my world, Fern."

A terrified scream echoed throughout the forest. Yet no one heard it as the sound of tanks retreating and missiles and shells bombarded the forest. The mist still thick as ever.

* * *

-Name: Fern  
-Army: Orange Star 58th Independent Battalion  
-Profile quote: "Scatter and fire!"  
-Age: 18  
-DOB: October 3rd  
-Hit: Nature life  
-Miss: Urban life  
-Biography: Fern was originally a member of another battalion within Orange Star, but when Black Hole invaded, she was nearly buried under the rubble deep in the mountain with the rest of her battalion, only surviving when Rig and the 58th Independent Battalion came and dug her out. Calm and occasionally sarcastic, Fern is used to pointing out flaws her commander has in his personality, as well as any small mistakes Chase overlooks.  
-Quotes:  
"You'll never know what hit you..."  
"Units, disperse and spread out, every man for himself!"  
"No one can win against me in the forest on a rainy day!"  
Skill: 10 attack boost when attacking from forests towards plains and roads, however, attack towards cities and mountains will have a 10 reduction.  
CO Power Meter: xxxXXXX  
CO Power: Cluster Bombarding-Units gain a 1 movement cost across forests, attacking from forests towards plains and roads is increased to 30, however, reduction to attack towards cities and mountains is increased to 15.  
Super CO Power: Vital Strike-Units gain a 1 movement cost across forests, attacking from forests towards plains and roads is increased to 60, however, reduction to attack towards cities and mountains is increased to 20.


End file.
